Mars Rover Mission's 'Mohawk Guy' Inspires Obama

This grouping of two test rovers and a flight spare provides a graphic comparison of three generations of Mars rovers developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. The setting is JPL's Mars Yard testing area.
Front and center is the flight spare for the first Mars rover, Sojourner, which landed on Mars in 1997 as part of the Mars Pathfinder Project. On the left is a Mars Exploration Rover Project test rover that is a working sibling to Spirit and Opportunity, which landed on Mars in 2004. On the right is a Mars Science Laboratory test rover the size of that project's Mars rover, Curiosity, which is on course for landing on Mars in August 2012

(CNN) -- "Mohawk Guy," a Mars rover flight director, isn't just a social media sensation -- he made an impression on President Barack Obama, too.

"I, in the past, thought about getting a mohawk myself, but my team keeps on discouraging me," Obama told scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in a phone call Monday broadcast on NASA TV.

"And now that he's received marriage proposals and thousands of new Twitter followers, I think that I'm going to go back to my team and see if it makes sense," he said to the sound of laughter from dozens of NASA employees.

Obama called NASA mission specialists to congratulate them on the successful landing of the rover Curiosity, which reached Mars one week ago. He praised them for their achievements in the phone call, which was both laudatory and lighthearted.

"Mohawk Guy," whose real name is Bobak Ferdowsi, has become famous for his look during the rover landing last week. As the world waited for Curiosity to touch down, Ferdowsi sported a red-and-black mohawk with yellow stars dyed on the sides of his head.

"It does sound like NASA has come a long way from the white-shirt, black dark-rimmed glasses and the pocket protectors," Obama told Jet Propulsion Laboratory Director Charles Elachi and colleagues. "You guys are a little cooler than you used to be."

More seriously, Obama thanked the scientists for devoting their lives to the cause of exploration outside our planet.

"What you've accomplished embodies the American spirit," he said. "Our expectation is that Curiosity is going to be telling us things that we did not know before," he said, and that the rover will lay the groundwork for an even more "audacious undertaking," which would be "a human mission to the red planet."

Curiosity is about the size of a sport utility vehicle and weighs 2,000 pounds. The mission costs about $2.6 billion.

The rover, after traveling for more than eight months, safely landed on the surface of Mars before 2 a.m. E.T. on August 6. The landing process was dubbed "seven minutes of terror" and involved the world's largest supersonic parachute and a sky crane.

Despite the complicated landing mechanism, the rover landed about 1.5 miles from its target, which was still well within the range where scientists expected it to arrive.

"It's really mind-boggling what you've been able to accomplish," the president told the NASA mission specialists. "And being able to get that whole landing sequence to work the way you did is a testimony to your team."

The rover will head toward Mount Sharp, a 18,000-foot high mountain about 7.5 miles south of where it landed. Curiosity will climb at least a small portion of this mountain, which is composed of layers of rock that have built up over time. Using its science tools, the rover will test for organic molecules, which would indicate the planet could have once hosted life.

Curiosity is supposed to last for two years on the red planet, but previous missions suggest that it could go longer. NASA had planned for twin rovers Spirit and Opportunity to last only 90 days, but Spirit persevered from 2004 to 2010, and Opportunity is still chugging along.

Obama may be busy with the upcoming election, but he said he'd still like to know immediately whether Curiosity finds life -- even microorganisms -- on Mars.

"If in fact you do make contact with Martians, please let me know right away," he said, receiving more laughter. He added, "I've got a lot of other things on my plate, but I suspect that that will go to the top of the list."

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